PURCHASE OF CAMELS FOR MILITARY PURPOSES. 115 



After getting all the dromedaries on board, I sailed on the 22d Janu- 

 ary for Smyrna. Previous to our leaving Egypt, Major Wayne secured 

 the services of three natives of the country (one of them a Bedouin 

 Arab, and two of them spoke a little English) to go to the United States 

 and help take care of the animals ; I also shipped three extra men 

 (sailors) for the same purpose. I don't know how the former may 

 answer when they get on shore, but I would not recommend to any 

 one in future to procure this kind of help, for in heavy weather (the 

 very time when the animals require the most assistance and attention) 

 the natives are perfectly helpless, and in good weather they are not 

 of much use ; under j)roper directions the sailors are the best hands to 

 take care of camels on board of ship, and there will always be found 

 some handy person who has a taste for a knowledge of stabling. A 

 Bedouin or Egyptian cannot be taught much beyond what they already 

 know, and I am of opinion that an intelligent American will in a 

 short time know more about the treatment of camels than they do ; 

 if they are only required to clean up the camel decks, &c., that duty 

 could be better performed by sailors. To suppose that any one at all 

 acquainted with the management of camels would allow them to be 

 treated by Arabs as if they were in the desert, would be absurd, and 

 to place the animals under their sole control and management after 

 landing them would not, in my opinion, be contributing much to the 

 success of the enterprise. It might be advisable to obtain the services 

 of one good and experienced man who has had the care of camels ; 

 one of the men (the Bedouin) I found servicable in good weather in 

 taking care of the young ones born on board, and while the i'emales 

 were bringing forth, as that is a branch of the business not likely to 

 be understood by those who have not seen it. It might do to have a 

 portion of the camel tenders natives, provided they were accustomed 

 to the business, but I would advise those who take them to be very 

 strict, though at the same time to treat them kindly, and to give them 

 no other indulgences besides those given to the crew, otherwise they 

 will prove troublesome. This kind of help can be procured in Egypt 

 ibr ten dollars a month, or less, with an outfit of some good stout 

 clothes to do their work in. I would, however, in all cases prefer 

 sailors to take care of animals at sea, and it is remarkable that during 

 this voyage not an accident of any kind had happened to a camel 

 under charge of the sailors ; while the Egyptians were so careless and 

 so treacherous that something was wrong with their animals all the 

 time ; I attribute the deaths of young ones to their want of attenti )n 

 altogether ; it is better not to have one of them on board at all. 



I was much pleased with the dromedaries when I got them all on 

 board and cleaned up ; they had just come from a long journey when 

 they were selected, were dirty and travel worn, and did not appear to 

 advantage ; but when I saw them all standing side by side, their 

 backs just clearing our deck, (which is seven feet four inches high,) 

 and their fine muscular proportions showing to such advantage, I 

 regretted very much that we were unable to procure more of the 

 same kind, particularly the females, which are much larger and finer 

 looking animals in every way than the female camels of Asia Minor, 

 consequently they would produce a better breed. It is thought by 



